AN eyewitness to this morning’s bus accident in Somerset said residents have long complained about surface water on the road but nothing has been done.

A double-decker bus carrying workers to the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station overturned on the A39 near Cannington, though the 70 passengers escaped serious injury.

She told GB News: “I thought I was dreaming, I heard a big bang. I heard a couple of scrapes and bangs and then I heard shouting and some screams.

“It took me about 5 or 10 minutes to realise that it wasn’t dreaming. There’s obviously been an accident out on the main road.

“Basically, I walked upstairs, I’ve got children upstairs, I went upstairs to look out the window, I could see the top of the bus and obviously assumed that it was a bad accident.

“And then all the children were awake and obviously panicking to see what was happening and trying to reassure them. And then within minutes emergency services were on the scene.”

She added: “So I mean, I’ve been a resident here for four years. I use this road daily. There’s always surface water on the road, obviously more so this time of year, especially when we’ve had heavy rainfall.

“I believe that many complaints have been put in to local agencies, but nothing seems to happen. They just seem to put ice warning signs up.”

Residents have said that water from the Quantock Hills tends to collect on the surface of the A39 during bad weather.

Avon and Somerset Police said 54 people were assessed at the scene of the accident and 26 were treated as “walking wounded”.

An unknown number of people were taken to two local hospitals, Musgrove Park Hospital and Southmead Hospital, for treatment, a spokesperson said.

The force said it was called to 100 incidents in the space of five hours last night.

Aerial footage showed the bus on its side on the verge of the road which had been taped off.

It is believed that the bus collided with a motorcycle before the crash and the force has urged motorists to avoid all but essential travel as icy conditions continue to cause havoc on roads.